Sofa Furniture Buyer’s Guide Blog

Question Details: The carpet is beige/off white. there is a center oriental rug that is predominantly wine. The curtain is wineThe only source of light is from the glass door and once the curtians are drawn the room is really dark and I sometimes have to put on the light during the day. What color can i repaint the walls in the living room?

I would go with a warm mocha. It will complement the wine nicely and also tie in the lighter beige rug. Don’t forget to get some mocha accessories (throw pillows) to bring the wall color and wine couch together. Also, add some gold or mustard, it will brighten it up.I think you’ll be pleased with the color combo. Otherwise try a med/ steel blue (if your not tired of the grayer shades), it will cool down the wine color for a more contrasting look. Hope this helps.

We have oak-colored wood paneling in our living room and we want to paint over it. My first question is what do we need to do to it in terms of sanding, priming, etc.?

My second question is how do we go about choosing a shade of "white"? Our living room is big but is a little dark. I want it to look lighter, but still cozy. We have dark wood furniture and a light beige carpet. We could paint the walls white or more of a cream color. Even a light yellow or blue would be ok. I want the feel of the room to be clean but warm. I just don’t know how to decide what kind of undertones the paint color should have, or how to go about deciding. Thanks!
We like the look of the painted paneling. We don’t want to remove the paneling, cover it, or fill in the seams.

Wash it down and paint it with Killz, then use the regular paint. Try a buff color. It’s warm & goes with everything.

I have three floor lamps in my living room,all of them with flouroscent bulbs.I live in a apartment so I cant install any wall mount lights.The problem is that I do most of my work in the living room and only use bedroom for sleeping.I want more light to help me with my reading and laptop use,coze these lights are not enough.They were throwing white light in the beginning but now they are all yellowish and I hate yellow lights.It gives strain to my eyes and I can’t read continously.I looked at some departmental stores lighting department but none them fills my expectations.
Any ideas, solutions, suggestions.
Thanks…….

Lighting an apartment where restrictions prevent you from installing the proper lighting for your task is a common problem for many of us. Incandescent light has the best color, but it is not efficient and/or environmentally friendly. One way you can increase the lighting in the room and make the color more comfortable is to use a halogen torchiere. Halogen lights are more efficient than incandescent and give more light. Using a torchiere that has an upward facing shade will give you ambient room lighting and will work together with your fluorescent lamps to create a more comfortable color for your tasks. I have found with fluorescent light bulbs it is better not to use the bulbs that advertise "just like daylight" or "sun light", because they mix a color in with the phosphor coating that, with time, can yellow. Try to find a compact fluorescent light bulb that shows the lumen p/watt of 69 (lumen=light output) and color temperature of 3000K for your lamps. Be careful of the wattage requirement on each fixture so that you get the right bulb for the fixture. So, basically if you purchase a halogen torchiere and change the light bulbs out in your lamps you should see a great difference.

Anyone have any ideas to help me organize a living room with a radiator, sectional couch and a non working fireplace with bookshelves on each end? Help! I’m at a loss.

You can put your sectional couch in the middle of the room. Use it to "enclose" the living room space. Just don’t put too close to the radiator. You could put your tv (if you are using a tv) inside the fireplace (and if it would fit) and could hide it with a fireplace screen or doors when not watching. Put one of those long tables behind the couch and add a lamp and some decor and/or a plant. Your sectional does not have to be up against a wall. Play around with it and see what looks good.